Enhanced service levels for call-processing services

ABSTRACT

Service levels for call-processing are enhanced based on the subscriber status of at least one of the calling party and the called party. In one example, a calling party (caller) places a call to a called party (recipient). At least one of the parties subscribes to a call-processing service and the call normally would be processed according to a predetermined service level. However, the service level is enhanced in response to a subscriber status for at least one of the parties, and the call is processed according to the enhanced service level.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to providing enhanced service levels forcall-processing services, for example during calls between subscribersto the call-processing service.

2. Description of the Related Art

With recent advances in telecommunications technology, service providersare providing more and more complex call-processing services to theirsubscribers. For example, call-processing services that are available toresidential phone subscribers can include answering machine service,caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, call blocking, and three-waycalling, to name just a few. Furthermore, the advent of call handlingand call-processing by technologies other than the public switchedtelephone network (PSTN) has enabled additional call-processingservices. Internet answering machine, Internet call waiting,fax-to-email, and voice over IP are just a few examples.

Providers of these call-processing services typically generate revenueby selling these services. The more services that subscribers buy; themore revenue is generated for the service provider. For convenience, thebundle of services purchased by a subscriber shall be referred to as thesubscriber's service level. The service level for different subscriberscan differ not only in which services are subscribed to, but also thequality of the particular service. As an example of the former, onesubscriber might purchase Internet answering machine and fax-to-email,whereas another only purchases Internet answering machine. As an exampleof the latter, one subscriber might purchase Internet answering machinewith a voice mailbox size of 10 minutes and maximum length of 30 secondsper voice mail, and another might purchase Internet answering machinewith a voice mailbox size of 30 minutes and maximum voice mail length of60 seconds.

In order to generate more revenue, service providers generally desire toenroll new subscribers and/or upgrade the service levels for existingsubscribers. One way that service providers attempt to do this is byadvertising. Advertising campaigns announcing the roll out of newservices, attempts to generate media coverage or buzz for certainservices, and ad placements in traditional media are all attempts toobtain new subscribers and/or to persuade existing subscribers toupgrade their service levels. However, advertising can be expensive andits effectiveness is not always apparent.

When multiple service providers offer similar services, serviceproviders often will also want to differentiate subscription to theirservice from subscription to the other services. Service providers willwant to somehow make their subscriptions “sticky” in order to preventsubscribers from switching to other service providers. In recent years,some telecommunications service providers have introduced billing plansthat are favorable to their subscribers. For example, T-Mobile offers awireless service where there is no per-minute charge if the callingparty and the called party both subscribe to T-Mobile. However, althoughthe pricing depends on whether both parties subscribe to T-Mobile, theactual service level does not.

Adding to these impediments, subscribers may not realize that they wanta service until they actually try it. For example, a subscriber maybelieve he does not need fax-to-email because he does not receive thatmany faxes and therefore does not need email notification and/or emaildelivery of the faxes. He may be content to wait until he returns to theoffice to pick up any faxes sent to him. However, once he triesfax-to-email, he may find that the service is actually very useful tohim, for example perhaps because the email-based fax delivery service ismore secure or perhaps because he receives more faxes due to theconvenience of the service. Service providers have offered free orreduced rate trial periods where subscribers can try new services.However, this still requires the subscriber to take the initiative ofsigning up for the trial period. It can also require significantresources from the service provider just to set up and administer thetrial.

Thus, there is a need for new approaches to call-processing servicesthat provide greater value to subscribers who sign up for higher servicelevels. There is also a need for new approaches to enroll newsubscribers and to encourage existing subscribers to upgrade theirservice levels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art byenhancing service levels based on the subscriber status of at least oneof the calling party and the called party. In one example, a callingparty (the caller) places a call to a called party (the recipient). Atleast one of the parties subscribes to a call-processing service and thecall normally would be processed according to a predetermined servicelevel. However, the service level is enhanced in response to asubscriber status for at least one of the parties, and the call isprocessed according to the enhanced service level.

The determination of whether to enhance the service level can be decidedin many different ways. For example, enhancement can be determined basedon the caller's and/or the recipient's service level. In one approach,the higher service level of the two parties is used, assuming bothparties are subscribers. In another approach, additional enhancementsare made for subscribers calling other subscribers or for subscribing tohigher service levels. In another approach, service levels are enhanceddepending on whether the party(s) have somehow been determined to be“important,” for example by being listed in a subscriber's address book.

Different types of enhancement are also possible. For answering machineservices, the length of the voice mail message can be increased, therecipient's personal greeting could be played instead of a defaultgreeting, or the number of voice mail editing options could beincreased, to name just a few. For call waiting or call notificationtype services, call notification can be delivered more quickly or withhigher priority or in real-time, or call notification can includedisplaying the caller's name and/or caller ID. In addition, therecipient can be enabled to accept the incoming call, the maximum lengthfor the resulting call connection can be increased, or the call or thevoice mail can be streamed to the recipient or delivered by email orother electronic means.

In one architecture for implementing service level enhancement, acall-processing system is connected to the public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN) and to the Internet. The call is switched by the PSTN tothe call-processing system. For example, the call may be call forwardedfrom the recipient's phone line when it is busy. The call-processingsystem determines whether service level enhancements are in order andthen processes the call according to the enhanced service level. Thecall-processing system provides call notification, call streaming andother services to the recipient via the Internet (e.g., to therecipient's computer).

Other aspects of the invention include other methods, devices andsystems corresponding to the above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention has other advantages and features which will be morereadily apparent from the following detailed description of theinvention and the appended claims, when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications system suitable foruse with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another telecommunications system accordingto the invention.

FIG. 3 is a composite flow diagram illustrating different aspects ofoperation of the system in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of one implementation of the system depictedin FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing further details of the call-processingsystem shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a call flow diagram illustrating an example functionimplemented by the system depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications system suitable foruse with the invention. In this figure, a calling party 2 (or caller)places a call to the called party 10 (or recipient) via a communicationsnetwork 5. At least one of the two parties 2, 10 subscribes to acall-processing service, which is handled by call-processing system 24.In this diagram, the call-processing system 24 is shown separate fromthe communications network 5 for clarity. Depending on the application,some or all of the call-processing system 24 may be implemented withinthe communications network 5 and/or devices operated by either party 2,10.

The system operates as follows. The call placed by the caller 2 isreceived, in this case by the call-processing system 24. Normally,call-processing (which includes processing of voice calls as well as faxcalls) would be applied according to a predetermined service level,typically defined by the subscriber's contract. However, in certainsituations depending on the subscriber status of the party(s), theservice level will be enhanced and the call will be processed accordingto the enhanced service level.

As an example, assume that the recipient 10 subscribes to an Internetanswering machine service. This service takes messages and then allowsretrieval of the messages via the Internet. Thus, a caller 2 typicallywill leave a message for the recipient and then hang up. Now also assumethat a specific caller 2 also subscribes to the Internet answeringmachine service but at a higher service level that also includes anInternet call connection service. The call connection service allows thesubscriber to receive calls on his computer via the Internet. Normally,the recipient 10 would not have this option since he has not subscribedto this service. However, since the caller 2 has subscribed, therecipient's service level is enhanced for this call and the recipient 10is given the option of taking the call on his computer.

This approach to enhancing service levels has many benefits. First, itcan be a good way to offer free trials of services. Second, it canincrease the value of higher service levels. As a final example, it canincrease word of mouth marketing for services. If the recipient 10 iscurious or has questions about the Internet call connection service, hecan immediately ask the caller 2 who is a regular subscriber to theservice. One advantage of dynamic enhancement of service level is thatthe added value received by both the caller and the recipient preferablyshould cause both parties to promote the service to othernon-subscribers, thereby reducing subscriber churn and improving growthof the subscriber base. In addition, the caller 2 becomes a promoter ofa higher level of service on behalf of the service provider.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a more specific example. Two networks areshown in FIG. 2: a public telephone network 4 and a data communicationsnetwork 6. Examples of the public telephone network 4 include the PSTN,Voice over IP (VoIP) networks, and wireless networks. Examples of datacommunications network 6 include the Internet, virtual private datanetworks, and Wide Area Networks (WANs). The data communications network6 may carry information besides just data. For example, it may carryboth voice and data simultaneously.

A caller 2 is connected to the public telephone network 4 (e.g., by aphone or fax machine) and a recipient 10 is connected to the datacommunications network 6 (e.g., by a computer or other data device). Acall-processing system 24 is connected to both networks 4, 6. Theconnections can be made either directly or indirectly. For recipient 10,examples of data devices include computers, Personal Digital Assistants(PDAs), and devices that combine both voice and data (e.g., a HandspringTreo). The data device can be connected to the data communicationsnetwork 6 by any means, including a dial-up connection, a broadbandconnection (e.g., DSL, cable or direct fiber), a direct connection tothe core of the data communications network 6, or wireless access. Theconnections can be either permanent or temporary. In addition, althoughthe call-processing system 24 shown in FIG. 2 is depicted as a singlebox, it should be understood that parts of the call-processing system 24may be distributed among the different devices 2, 10 and networks 4, 6.

In FIG. 2, when a caller 2 places a call to the recipient 10, the callis intercepted, received and handled by the call-processing system 24.For example, the call may be forwarded from the recipient's phone numberto a phone number for the call-processing system 24, including CallForward on Busy (the call is forwarded when the recipient's phone numberis busy), Call Forward All (forward all calls regardless of the state ofthe recipient's phone number), and Call Forward No Answer (forward thecall if the recipient's phone number rings but is not answered).Alternately, the recipient's phone number may terminate at thecall-processing system 24 so that the call is routed directly to thecall-processing system. For example, the recipient may be assigned alocal phone number that terminates at the call-processing system 24. Ifthe recipient already has a phone number, it can be local-numberported—that is, ported from the local phone carrier to thecall-processing system 24, so that calls terminate directly at thecall-processing system.

FIG. 3 is a composite flow diagram that shows some of the differentcall-processing options that can be implemented with the invention.Different call-processing systems 24 can implement the differentfeatures shown in FIG. 3. The recipient 10 is assumed to be a subscriberfor an Internet call waiting service provided by the call-processingsystem 24. As such, the call-processing system 24 has default rules forprocessing calls destined for recipient 10. Upon receiving 52 a call,the default is for the call-processing system 24 to handle the callaccording to these default rules. In this example, the default is forthe call-processing system 24 to automatically answer the call, send 62a notification to the recipient 10 and record 62 a voice mail message.

Before executing the default rules, the call-processing system 24determines 54 whether the caller 2 is also a subscriber. If he is, thecall-processing system 24 enhances 55 the service level for this call.In this example, in addition to notifying 58 the recipient, thecall-processing system 24 also begins streaming 56 the incoming callthrough the recipient's computer speakers. The recipient may send 60additional instructions to the call-processing system 24 in response toeither receipt of the call or the notification. For example, therecipient may elect to forward the call to a different phone number ortake the call via his computer.

FIGS. 4-6 illustrate a specific implementation of the system shown inFIGS. 1-3. In this implementation, the public telephone network 4includes the PSTN 104, and the data communications network 6 includesthe Internet 106. The recipient 10 is using a computer terminal 110 toaccess the Internet 106 via a dial-up connection.

FIG. 5 shows the details of one implementation of the call-processingsystem 124. It includes a call management (CM) subsystem 108, a routersubsystem 140, an online presence-detection Internet session management(SM) subsystem 122, a shared media storage (MS) subsystem 138, and adatabase (DB) subsystem 136. The CM subsystem 108 interfaces to the PSTN104 and manages inbound and outbound calls. The router subsystem 140interfaces to the Internet 106 and manages communications between therecipient's data devices and the various servers. The SM subsystem 122monitors the status of the recipient's data devices to determineavailability for call notification and delivery services. The MSsubsystem 138 persistently archives voice messages. The DB subsystem 136contains records for subscribers. It also contains rules to be appliedfor call handling/processing and for determining the enhancement ofservice levels. It may also store subscribers' address books and/orpreferences. These various subsystems may be interconnected via LocalArea Networks (LANs), private virtual networks running over the Internetand/or Wide Area Networks (WANs).

Referring to FIG. 4, the caller's telephone 102 is connected to a LocalExchange Carrier (LEC) switch via telephone lines 134. The caller'sphone 102 can be directly connected to the LEC over conventional POTS(Plain Old Telephone System) lines or via local extension lines behind acorporate Private Branch Exchange (PBX).

In FIG. 5, the CM subsystem 108 is connected to the PSTN 104 via voicetrunk circuits 118 that directly interface with the Inter ExchangeCarrier's (IXC) circuit-switched or packet-switched telephony network.Thus, advantageously, the call-processing system 124 does not have to bedirectly serviced by the same LEC switch or PBX. Because of this, thecall-processing system 124 or its individual subsystem components can belocated in a different geographical area (e.g., a different country)than the sender and recipient. In this embodiment, the call-processingsystem 124 is locally attached to a LEC switch with a physical line orlocal trunk interface circuit. In such cases, the switch may or may notbe serving the caller's telephone 102. In yet another embodiment, the CMsubsystem 108 may be connected to the PSTN 104 via a VoIP network andassociated routers 142.

The trunk circuits 118 are not limited to a particular signalingconvention. For example, the present invention can be utilized with aCommon Channel Signaling (CCS) system, such as Signaling System 7 (SS7),that has separate voice/user data and signaling channels. In addition,the present invention can be used with other signaling methods, such asthe following trunk-side signaling interfaces: ISDN-PRI, AdvancedIntelligent Network (AIN), and/or Service Node architectures.Preferably, the selected signaling system provides a suite ofcall-presentation information to the call-processing system 124,including one or more of the following:

-   -   ANI—Automatic Number Identification (“Caller ID”): the phone        number and privacy indicator of the calling party (the caller in        this example).    -   DNIS—Dialed Number Identification System: the phone number of        the called party or of the call processing system in the case of        a forwarded call.    -   OCN/Redirecting—Original Called Number Identification: phone        number of the original called party (the recipient in this        example) in the case of a forwarded call.

The telephone line 114 may be shared with one or more computer terminals110. For example, telephone 112 shares the telephone line 114 with acomputer terminal 110. In this example, the telephone line 114 is usedto establish a dial-up connection for a computer terminal 110, via thecomputer modem, to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) offering dial-inremote-access service connections from the PSTN 104 via trunk interfacecircuits 120. The computer terminal 110 can also be connected to theInternet 106 via a broadband connection (such as a DSL or cable modemservice, or a T1 line). While the recipient's data device is shown as acomputer terminal 110 in FIG. 4, it can also be an interactivetelevision, a network-enabled PDA, another IP (Internet Protocol)device, or the like. If the computer terminal 110 is a personalcomputer, it can be equipped with a monitor, keyboard, mouse, diskdrive, sound card (or similar sound-reproduction circuitry, such as acodec), streaming media playback software (such as Microsoft's MediaPlayer program), speakers, and a modem (such as a standard V.90, 56Kdial-up modem).

In this implementation, a client application 116 for the call-processingsystem 124 resides and executes on the computer terminal 110. The clientapplication 116 is connected to, and communicates with, thecall-processing system 124 via the Internet 106.

The call-processing system 124 optionally hosts a web site used bysubscribers of the service to set up and manage their accounts. Set-upand management functions can be implemented by the client application116 as well.

The SM subsystem 122 monitors the Internet for online IP devicesregistered to subscribers to determine their availability for receivingcalls. When a subscriber connects to the Internet using a dial-up ISP,for example, the client application 116 makes the subscriber's onlinepresence known to the call-processing system 124. Presence detection canbe performed by the SM subsystem 122 polling or pinging the clientapplication 116, or by the client application 116 transmitting a“Login/I'm alive” message and/or subsequent periodic “Keep alive”messages to the SM subsystem 122. This is just one example of presencemanagement. Broader presence management techniques could be employed,including IETF SIMPLE technology.

If, rather than using a dial-up connection, the subscriber is using abroadband, always-on connection (such as a DSL or cable modem service),the client application 116 typically becomes active when the computerterminal 110 is turned on or powered up, and it stays on until thesubscriber manually shuts down the client application 116 or thecomputer 110 is turned off or powered down.

FIG. 6 is a call-flow diagram that illustrates one example of callhandling. For clarity, the full details shown in FIGS. 4-5 are notrepeated in FIG. 6. In this example, the calling party 2 places the callfrom telephone 102 and the recipient 10 normally would receive the callon telephone 112. The recipient subscribes to a service that transmits acall notification to the recipient when the recipient's phone line 114is busy.

The calling party calls 501 the called party phone line 114 connected tothe telephone 112 and computer 110. In this example, the computer 110 isusing the phone line 114 to access the Internet 106 or other computernetwork, and so is online. The PSTN 104 detects that the called partyphone line 114 is busy 502. In accordance with a call forwarding service503, the PSTN 104 forwards the call on busy to the call-processingsystem 124 via the voice trunk circuits 118. The call-processing system124 receives 503 the incoming call and, based at least in part on thephone number called (obtainable from the Redirecting/OCN number fieldfor example), the CM subsystem 108 queries the SM subsystem 122 and theDB subsystem 136 to determine whether the forwarded number is registeredto a subscriber and if so, then the recipient's service level, what therecipient's call-handling preferences are, and whether the recipient isonline. The CM subsystem 108 also queries the SM subsystem 122 and theDB subsystem 136 to determine whether the caller's phone number(obtained from the ANI number field, for example) is registered to asubscriber and if so, the caller's service level, and what the caller'scall-handling preferences are. A comparison is made between the servicelevels of the calling and called parties and the service level isenhanced to match the higher service level of the two. In this example,assume that the enhancement adds streaming of messages, which normallyis not part of the recipient's service level.

If the recipient's computer terminal 110 is online, the CM subsystem 108opens a communication channel over the Internet 106 to the clientapplication 116 running on the recipient's computer terminal 110. Thecall-processing system 124 transmits 504 a call notification to therecipient's computer terminal 110. This is a part of the recipient'sregular service level.

In this example, the call notification consists of the Caller ID of thecaller. The Caller ID may come from different sources. For example, itmay be provided during set up of the call by the telephone network. Theinformation may also be automatically entered into the recipient'saddress book. A sound notification can be included in the notificationin the form of ringing, which is produced through the recipient'scomputer 110 speakers. In addition, the CM subsystem 108 performs aCaller Name database lookup using the Caller ID of the caller. TheCaller Name, if available, is transmitted 504 to the client application116 and displayed to the recipient.

Around the same time (it may be before or after), the call-processingsystem 124 answers 505 the incoming call and establishes 506 afull-duplex (two-way) talk path with the caller. The CM subsystem 108plays 507 a greeting to the caller and then records and stores thecaller's voice message in the MS subsystem 138. As an enhancement to therecipient's regular service level, the CM subsystem 108 simultaneouslystreams 508 the voice through the opened. Internet channel to the clientapplication 116 (or other media player) on the recipient's computerterminal 110. The client application 116 or media player plays themessage to the recipient. The subscriber is presented an option to“take-the-call” on his computer or transfer the call to another phone.

If the subscriber chooses not to take the call, after the callercompletes his/her message, the call is terminated 509. Thecall-processing system 124 releases trunk resources and signals 509 calltermination to the PSTN 104. The call-processing system 124 also signals510 completion of the call to the recipient by sending a correspondingcontrol message, which is displayed to the recipient, via the clientapplication 116, as an entry in the call log (for example, 30-secondcall).

In conventional approaches, services ordered by a subscriber function ina predetermined manner, as specified by a user manual or by contract,and service levels are not affected by service interaction with othersubscribers. By using the approach described above, if a serviceprovider determines that the caller and/or recipient were subscribers,the provider could enhance the experience for both parties. For example,the telecommunications provider could increase the message recordinglength from 30 seconds to 1 minute for all callers who subscribe to theprovider's service. The benefit of the increase would be that the callercould leave a longer, more complete message while the recipient, becauseof the completeness of the message, may not have to return the call.Dynamic subscriber-to-subscriber service enhancements preferably wouldcreate an important incentive for the subscriber to encouragenon-subscribers to subscribe to the provider's call-processing servicesand to encourage existing subscribers to upgrade their service levels.

Although the detailed description contains many specifics, these shouldnot be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but merely asillustrating different examples and aspects of the invention. It shouldbe appreciated that the scope of the invention includes otherembodiments not discussed in detail above. For example, in many of theexamples given above, the service level was enhanced to equal the higherservice level subscribed to by either the calling party or the calledparty, but enhancement of service levels can be decided in other ways.

Table 1 gives an example where there are three service levels. Theletter H designates the highest level of service, the letter M amid-level of service, and the letter L the lowest level of service.Normally, the call is processed according to the service level of thecalled party (i.e., the service level shown in the third column).However, in this example, service levels are enhanced to match thehigher of the two service levels. Columns four and five show the servicelevel enhancement, if any, relative to the normal service level for boththe calling and the called parties. Case three, for example, is aninstance in which the calling party is at the highest level of service(H) and the called party is at the lowest level of service (L).Normally, the call would be processed at service level L. However, theservice level is enhanced to the higher level of the calling party forthe duration of the call, so the call is actually processed at servicelevel H, as indicated by the notation L→H in column five.

TABLE 1 Service Level Service Level M to M Service M to M Service MatchApplied Match Applied Level Upgrade Level Upgrade Case Call-ING Call-EDto Call-ING to Call-ED to Call-ING to Call-ED 1 H H H H H -> H+ H -> H+2 H M H M -> H same same 3 H L H L -> H same same 4 M H M -> H H samesame 5 M M M M M -> H M -> H 6 M L M L -> M same same 7 L H L -> H Hsame same 8 L M L -> M M same same 9 L L L L L -> M L -> M 10 None H — Hsame same 11 None M — M same same 12 None L — L same same

The sixth and seventh columns show another variation that adds moreenhancements to those already existing in columns four and five. In theprevious example, if both parties are subscribers, there will always bea service level enhancement except when both parties subscribe to thesame service level. For example, in case five, both members have servicelevel M, so the call is processed at service level M under columns fourand five, which is not an enhancement for either party. In columns sixand seven, these cases also receive service level enhancements. In casefive, the service level is enhanced to H for the duration of the call.The notation “same” in columns six and seven indicate that the servicelevel enhancement is the same as in columns four and five. In theexample of columns six and seven, the service level is enhanced whenevertwo subscribers participate in the call. In case one, the service levelof H is enhanced to become H+ (an even higher level of service) becausethe recipient subscribes to level H and he is being called by anothersubscriber to level H. This might be done in order to reward orencourage subscribers to call other subscribers, to encouragesubscribers to enroll in the highest level of service and/or toencourage level H subscribers to encourage their friends to upgrade tolevel H. In case nine, the call is enhanced to level M (rather thanprocessed at level L), for example to encourage both subscribers toupgrade their service to level M. Note that in this example noenhancements are provided for calls originating with non-subscribers(cases 10-12). Enhancements occur only if both parties are subscribersand, in columns six and seven, enhancements always occur if both partiesare subscribers.

Other methods for enhancing the service level will be apparent. Forexample, whether to enhance the service level or how much to enhance theservice level can be based solely according to the calling party'sservice level, or the called party's service level, rather than on bothservice levels. It can also be based on other factors within thesubscriber status, such as how long the subscriber has been asubscriber. It can also be based on factors within the subscriber statusin combination with other factors, such as time of day, geographicallocation, and whether the service provider is offering a promotion.

Table 2 shows an example where enhancement occurs for “very importantcallers/callees” (VICs). In this example, certain parties are designatedas VICs. For example, the subscriber might actively fill out a list ofVICs, or designate certain parties as VICs when entered into thesubscriber's address book. Alternately, VICs may be defined by thesubscriber's call history, for example those parties which are called orwhich call the subscriber on a regular basis. Alternately, all partiesin the subscriber's address book may be considered to be VICs.Regardless of the definition, in cases 1-3 of Table 2, if a VIC callsthe subscriber, then the service level is automatically enhanced, evenif the VIC is not a current subscriber. In cases 4-6, if a subscribercalls the VIC (e.g., by originating a call from an address book entry),then the service level is also enhanced. For example, if the callingline is busy, the subscriber might be asked if he would like a call-backwhen the VIC's line is available (e.g., camp-on service). In addition toimproving the value of the call-processing service, this enhancementrule incentivizes the subscriber to populate his address book (if VICsare defined based on the address book).

TABLE 2 VIC Service VIC Service Level Upgrade to Level Upgrade to CaseCall-ING Call-ED Call-ING Call-ED 1 VIC H —  H -> H+ 2 VIC M — M -> H 3VIC L — L -> M 4 H VIC  H -> H+ — 5 M VIC M -> H — 6 L VIC L -> M —

As some final variations, there are many ways in which service levelscan be enhanced. For example, for answering machine services, themaximum length of the voice mail message can be increased, the calledparty's personal greeting could be played instead of a default greeting,or the number of voice mail editing options could be increased, to name,just a few. For call waiting or call notification type services, callnotification can be delivered more quickly or with higher priority or inreal-time, or call notification can include displaying the caller's nameand/or caller ID. In addition, the recipient can be enabled to acceptthe incoming call, the maximum length for the resulting call connectioncan be increased, or the call or the voice mail can be streamed to therecipient or delivered by email or other electronic means.

1. A method for processing calls between parties, including a callingparty and a called party, comprising: receiving a call placed by thecalling party to the called party, wherein, a first of the parties is asubscriber to a first type of call-processing service and has subscribedto a first level of service with respect to the first type ofcall-processing service, a second of the parties is a subscriber to thefirst type call-processing service and has subscribed to a second levelof service with respect to the first type of call-processing service,wherein the second level of service is different than the first level ofservice, and the first type of call processing service is provided toboth the first of the parties and the second of the parties by the sameservice provider; determining an enhanced service level with respect tothe first type of call processing service for the first of the partiesbased at least in part on the second level of service to which thesecond party is entitled to with respect to the first type ofcall-processing service; providing the enhanced service level as a trialto at least the party having a relatively lower level of service;receiving a call placed by a third party to the called party; and if thethird party is a non-subscriber with respect to the same serviceprovider, not providing the enhanced service level to thenon-subscribing third party.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein providingthe enhanced service level comprises: enhancing the service level of thecalled party based at least in part on a service level subscribed to bythe calling party, wherein the calling party is subscribed to a higherservice level relative to the service level of the called party.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 wherein providing the enhanced service levelcomprises: enhancing the service level of the calling party based atleast in part on a service level subscribed to by the called party,wherein the called party is subscribed to a higher service levelrelative to the service level of the calling party.
 4. The method ofclaim 1 wherein providing the enhanced service level comprises:enhancing the service level if both parties subscribe to thecall-processing service.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein providing theenhanced service level comprises: if both parties subscribe to thecall-processing service, enhancing the service level to a service levelthat is higher than the service level subscribed to by either party. 6.The method of claim 1 wherein providing the enhanced service levelcomprises: enhancing the service level to a service level that at leastequals the highest service level subscribed to by either party.
 7. Themethod of claim 1 wherein providing the enhanced service levelcomprises: enhancing the service level only if both parties subscribe tothe call-processing service.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein: thecalled party subscribes to the first level of service; and providing theenhanced service level comprises enhancing the service level accordingto the second level of service subscribed to by the calling party. 9.The method of claim 1 the step of enhancing the service level comprisesenhancing a voice mail service.
 10. The method of claim 1 whereinproviding the enhanced service level comprises enhancing a service forthe called party to accept the call.
 11. The method of claim 1 whereinthe step of enhancing the service level comprises enhancing a callwaiting or a call notification service.
 12. The method of claim 1wherein a call-processing system performs the steps of receiving thecall, enhancing the service level, and processing the call.
 13. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the step of receiving the call comprises:receiving a call forwarded from the called party's number to a numberfor a call-processing system.
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein thecalled party's number terminates at a call-processing system.
 15. Themethod as defined in claim 1, wherein the first type of service is avoice mail service.
 16. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein thefirst type of service is a voice mail service and the enhanced servicerelates to a length of voice message that may be left.
 17. The method asdefined in claim 1, wherein the first type of service is a voice mailservice and the enhanced service relates to whether a message can bedesignated urgent in priority.
 18. The method as defined in claim 1,wherein the enhanced service relates to extending a maximum length for acall connection.
 19. The method as defined in claim 1, the methodfurther comprising: determining that the level of service the calledparty is entitled to using a telephone number associated with the call.20. The method as defined in claim 1, the method further comprising:determining that the level of service the caller party is entitled tousing a telephone number associated with the call.
 21. A method forprocessing calls comprising: at least partly in response to a call froma calling party to a called party, determining the subscriber servicelevel of at least one of the parties; wherein at least partly inresponse to determining that a first of the parties is a subscriber to afirst type call-processing service and is entitled to a first servicelevel for the call-processing service, wherein the other party is asubscriber to the first type call-processing service, wherein theservice level of the other party is is at a lower service level than thefirst of the parties service level, wherein the first type of callprocessing service is provided to both the first of the parties and theother party by the same service provider; enhancing the service levelfor at least the other party from the lower service level to a higherservice level; providing service to the other party in accordance withthe higher service level; receiving a call from a third party to acalled party, if the third party is a non-subscriber with respect to thesame service provider, not providing the higher service level to thenon-subscribing third party.
 22. The method of claim 21 whereinenhancing the service level comprises: enhancing the service level forboth parties if both parties subscribe to the call-processing service.23. The method of claim 21 wherein enhancing the service levelcomprises: enhancing the service level to a service level that at leastequals the highest service level subscribed to by either party.
 24. Themethod of claim 21 wherein enhancing the service level comprises:enhancing the service level only if both parties subscribe to thecall-processing service.
 25. The method of claim 21 wherein the call isreceived by a call-processing system that performs the steps ofenhancing the service level and processing the call.
 26. Acall-processing system comprising: a call management subsystemconfigured to receive a call placed by a calling party to a calledparty; a database subsystem containing subscriber records and coupled tothe call management subsystem, wherein the call management subsystem isconfigured to access the database subsystem to determine whether a firstof the parties is a subscriber and to determine a first predeterminedservice level to which the first party is entitled to as a subscriber;and wherein the call management subsystem is configured: to access thedatabase subsystem to determine whether a second of the parties is asubscriber to services offered by the call processing system and, if thesecond of the parties is a subscriber, to determine a secondpredetermined service level to which the second party is entitled to asa subscriber; wherein the database subsystem further contains rules forenhancing the service level for a second of the parties to a levelhigher than the second service level if the second of the parties is asubscriber at least partly in response to the determined first servicelevel of the first of the parties; wherein the call management subsystemis configured to provide the second party with service higher than thesecond service level in accordance with the enhanced service level; andwherein the call management subsystem is configured to not provide theenhanced service level higher than the second service level to thesecond of the parties if the second of the parties is a non-subscriberwith respect to services offered by the call processing system.
 27. Thecall-processing system of claim 26 wherein the rules enhance the servicelevel if both parties are subscribers.
 28. The call-processing system ofclaim 27 wherein, if both parties are subscribers, the rules enhance theservice level to a service level that is higher than the service levelsubscribed to by either party.
 29. The call-processing system of claim26 wherein the rules enhance the service level to a service level thatat least equals the highest service level subscribed to by either party.30. The call-processing system of claim 26 wherein the rules enhance theservice level only if both parties are subscribers.
 31. Thecall-processing system of claim 26 wherein the call management subsystemenhances a voice mail service.
 32. The call-processing system of claim26 wherein the call management subsystem enhances a service for thecalled party to accept the call.
 33. The call-processing system of claim26 wherein the call management subsystem enhances a call waiting or acall notification service.